


Vipers

by bzarcher



Series: The Great Game [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Business, Deadlock Gang, F/F, Family, Love, Rituals, Talon - Freeform, Temporary Character Death, pleasure - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-03 22:14:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19192732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bzarcher/pseuds/bzarcher
Summary: "Every desire is a viper in the bosom, who while he was chill was harmless; but when warmth gave him strength, exerted it in poison."The Deadlock gang was doing some pretty good business before they crossed paths with Talon. When Ashe finds herself more and more involved with Moira O'Deorain, she learns there can be rewards she hadn't even considered. But just how far is she willing to go?





	Vipers

**Author's Note:**

> This is a side story from the same AU as the larger work in this series, "Touch-Starved." 
> 
> If you haven't read it, I strongly suggest you back up and do so or a lot of things may not make complete sense.

The first time they crossed paths wasn’t exactly a situation that Ashe would have called ‘auspicious.’ More like the last piece of manure on top of a heap of shit.

Deadlock had ambushed a convoy moving through Bavispe, knocking out the private guards who had been hired to ride shotgun while they traveled up towards Tucson, where the “cargo” would be loaded on a suborbital.

She’d gotten a tip through one of her contacts that the cargo was actually some pretty hot tech, a few biological samples for some lab out in Europe, and a bunch of old Mixtec gold that had been dug out from some old forgotten ruin that had been exposed by the fighting during the Crisis and then forgotten again.

When they went in to hit the trucks, though, things hadn’t quite gone to plan.

The ‘Private Guards’ hadn’t been rentacops or semi-official military like Helix. They’d been _nasty._  Heavily armed, professional, and they fought dirty.

It cost them two good people and a lot of ammo before she and B.O.B. had finally busted the stalemate, rolling a bundle of dynamite under the lead armored truck so that B.O.B. could blast it.

The guards must have had most of their heavy munitions in that truck, because it went up like a firecracker, the smoke and heat filling the little valley they’d chosen for the hit, and when the dust cleared the remaining troops had slowly put up their hands and come out of their cover.

Things started to get a little more clear after she’d had a few of the boys strip off their armor and pile up the weapons on one of their flatbeds while the rest stripped the cargo and anything else worth a look off the trucks.

“Boss?” One of the triplets waved to get her attention from where she’d been directing traffic. “Think you better come see this!”

“Is that right?” She let her rifle rest against her shoulder as she walked over, carefully sweeping a look over the men and women who had been stripped down to their shirts and underwear before being tied up. “Better show me, Zeke.”

Zeke nodded, picking one of the rifles up and turning it so she could see the stock, where a particular marking caught the light.

“Well well well,” Ashe drawled as she traced the stylized “T” insignia that had been stamped into the composite with a finger. “Ain’t _that_ interesting.”

“Yes ma’am,” Terran agreed as he came over. “What’d you want us to do with ‘em?”

Ashe had to consider that a moment. Talon was a rival at times, but they were customers or fences at others. She didn’t care to burn bridges when she didn’t have to, and for all the trouble it had been a pretty fair scrap. Had to respect that.

She finally took the rifle from Zeke and hefted it before turning to where several of the Talon soldiers were watching them. Some with fear, some with disinterest, and a few with outright hate.

Ashe kind of liked those ones. Always did respect someone who let you know exactly what they thought of you.

“We’ll be takin’ these,” she said before tossing the gun over to B.O.B., who plucked it from the air and placed it in the back of a truck as gently as he’d once tucked her into bed. “But we’ll leave the rest of your gear. Ya’ll seem resourceful - once you get yourselves loose, I figure you’ll be able to make your way to town and get a ride home. Sound fair?”

None of them replied, so she decided to reinforce her point by firing a shot just over the top of the tallest one’s head, then jacking a fresh round into the chamber.

“I ask you a question, _you best answer me_. _”_

One of the ones who had been glaring worked up enough spit to put a thick gob on the ground just shy of her boots. “You’ll pay for this.”

“Maybe,” Ashe allowed with a little smirk. “But that ain’t none of your concern.” She gave the man a condescending little pat on the cheek. “Nice aim, though.”

She had a feeling he must have been one of the non-coms running the show by the way he growled under his breath.

“AWRIGHT BOYS,” she hollered as she turned back towards their new haul. “FINISH UP AND WE’RE OUT OF HERE!”

It had felt pretty good on the drive back to the hideout they’d set up for this job, but the warm glow of a job well done faded when they’d begun going through the haul.

Most of the ‘hot tech’ was infrastructure hardware and ‘smart’ construction materials from Vishkar - practically useless without one of their people to make it work. Valuable on paper, but a bitch to fence nine times out of ten, and far less profitable as a result.

The biological samples she ordered kept on ice for now, but it was likely they’d be similarly worthless, and there’d been damn little of the promised gold - certainly not worth the trouble they’d gone to.

At least there’d been a few statues and carvings in there, too. Couldn’t melt that down in a pinch, but they were worth plenty to the right collectors.

Still, it would take time to move those, too.

The whole thing left her right sour by the time they’d gotten back to the main hideout a few days later, the bulky stuff left in caches that they’d direct their fences to later. One more damn thing to do, after she’d had a chance to get a long hot shower and rinse the road off herself. She made sure the last of the haul was stored safely away, sent B.O.B. off to recharge, and stowed her bike before she finally made it back to her place.

For reasons Ashe couldn’t quite name, she’d decided to keep the cryo case with the samples with her. Still didn’t know what they’d be good for, but her instincts told her they were important, and she listened to that.

She’d been out of the shower for maybe ten minutes when she got her answer. A sound of light, quick footsteps, followed by the distinctive thuds of people hitting the ground.

She’d unloaded the Viper earlier and racked it on the wall, but her coach gun was in easy reach, and she never left it unloaded. _Nobody_ got the drop on her in her own damn house.

There was an odd sound - almost like some kind of suction - and she watched as the bolt on her door unlatched itself before the door swung open to reveal a tall and slender figure all in black, skin even more pale than her own, with bright red hair and a funny mask over one eye.

“Well,” the woman said as she looked down the barrels of the shotgun, “how very quaint.”

Ashe snorted, but didn’t take her eyes off the intruder. “You ain’t from around here, are you?”

That got a dry chuckle. “Not at all.”

“Fine. Let me offer you a little _hospitality_ , then.” She reached up with her thumb, flicking the safety off. “You have no idea who you’re messin’ with, so I advise you to get out of here right the hell now.”

The redhead’s lips drew back in a tight little smile, but it didn’t reach her mismatched eyes. “How amusing. I was just thinking the same of you.”

She had never been one to hesitate when things needed done. As soon as that threat left the other woman’s lips Ashe pulled both triggers, but somehow the only thing she hit was a few wisps of smoke as the woman _disappeared_.

She dropped as she felt something like a gust of wind behind her, a purple ball of _something_ floating past where her head had been before it sailed out the door, rolling to the side before she popped up and swung the coach gun like a club at the woman’s middle, only to choke and cough on a lungful of that damn smoke again.

Ashe lunged away, going for the Bowie she kept by her bedside, but she’d barely cleared leather before she felt slender fingers digging into her shoulder.

Still, she had never been a woman who laid down and took things quietly.

She flipped the knife’s grip and drove her arm back as hard as she could, and was rewarded with a grunt of pain and the feel of slicing through something before she felt fingernails digging into her throat.

“You _are_ a spirited one. Quite impressive, really.” The hand tightened, and Ashe’s vision began to go black at the edges. “But I’m afraid I am rather tired of delays. You have something which belongs to me, and I would see it returned. _Now._ ”

Something about the woman’s voice sank into her like oil into wood, and without really understanding why she pointed to the safe where she’d stashed the cryo case. The pressure that had been closing off her windpipe vanished, and she doubled over with relief as air rushed into her desperate lungs.

Even half strangled she tried to push herself up to watch the woman as she seemed to glide across the floor, slender fingers outstretched as she carefully examined the combination lock. Hell, she must have still been a bit oxygen deprived, because she’d almost swear the woman’s skin was getting lighter, almost seeming to _glow_.

“You are very lucky I do not wish to risk damaging those samples, or I would be much less graceful with your safe.”

Ashe found it in herself to roll her eyes a bit, but she couldn’t talk, much as she tried, barely able to make much more than a raspy hiss come out of her abused throat.

Even though the woman didn’t seem to be looking at her, she got the message, letting out a dry chuckle even as she carefully turned the combination lock, her other hand splayed across the door.

_Good luck, sister. Ain’t no way you’ll feel the tumblers move through an inch of armored plate, and you made sure I can’t tell you shit._

She’d just started to smirk at the idea of the mysterious stranger having screwed herself over when there was a low thunk and the woman gave a pleased little ‘Ah’ of triumph as she spun the locking wheel open, and the door swung free.

“Mm. I thank you for storing them properly, at least.” She ran a loving, proprietary hand over the case, checking each indicator before giving a little hum of satisfaction, then securing the case to her belt.

“I have no interest or need for the rest of what you have taken,” she said as she walked to the door. “Consider them your compensation for this...incident.”

The woman turned back, extending her hand in a clawed grip, and it felt as if she was sinking into the floor, the energy draining from her body.

The last thing Ashe saw before her vision went completely dark was the woman seeming to fade to nothingness, a few wisps of that black smoke slipping away into the shadows.

* * *

When B.O.B. had woken her up there’d been no permanent damage, but everyone who’d been knocked out by their ‘guest’ had needed a few days of rest before they were back to one hundred percent.

A few months later she was working on fencing the rest of their haul and setting up a few more scores to keep the wheels turning when a message came in through a contact. Talon was making plans for an operation that would cross Deadlock territory, and they wanted to have a ‘discussion.’

“Feels like a trap,” she observed to B.O.B., and her oldest friend tilted his head slightly, the shutters flicking closed for a moment.

“Oh,” Ashe waved her fingers towards the general direction of outside. “I’m _going_ , don’t get me wrong. You now how Talon is - left hand never did know what the right was doing. They may not even be part of the group we hit. But just in case they _do_ ,” she smiled fiercely as she stood up. “Best place to bust a trap is inside, ain’t it?”

B.O.B. just tilted his head the other way.

“Course it is! Don’t you look at me like that!”

B.O.B.’s eyes flickered closed again.

“ _Yes,_ I’ll bring you and some of the boys along,” she drawled as she stood up, pulling a spare round from her ammo pouch so she could roll it back and forth between her fingers as she talked. “I ain’t stupid. Go tell the triplets we’re gonna go for a little trip in two days. Bars, too.”

She nodded as B.O.B. left to go spread the word, flipping the bullet into the air and catching it again before she tucked it back into place.

“This ought to be real interestin’.”

The meeting was set for Palm Springs, at a resort Ashe recognized. High end, exclusive, and above all quite _discrete_. She’d been sent there or a place much like it by her parents when her ‘acting out’ had gotten a little too much attention. Couldn’t let her ‘misbehavior’ affect the bottom line, after all.

She’d hated the place as much for what it represented as for what it was. A nice pretty box they could shove her in to keep her out of the way. Throw money at the ‘problem’, and maybe she’d stop.

It made her want to spit.

Outside of B.O.B., the boys would have stuck out like a sore thumb in the ‘refined’ atmosphere, but fortunately it wasn’t so far to Desert Center, where things were a might bit more their speed. She left Bars and the triplets there with orders to be ready to move if needed, then spent a little time getting gussied up for the show.

She’d debated just walking in tooled up for a fight, but after some consideration she’d decided on looking the part.

Still, no prim and proper dress for her, thank you very much. She’d gone for a nice pair of black leather and snakeskin boots, tailored butternut trousers that would look nice _and_ put up with abuse if she did have a fight on her hands, white starched shirt with onyx cufflinks, and a blood red vest with carefully concealed armoring. A black bolo tie with a silver clasp sat at her throat, and a black silk ribbon tied her hair back and out of the way before she put a hat on that matched the trousers.

She walked in like she owned the place, and god knows her parents probably could if they’d been of a mind to. B.O.B. to her right, two steps behind, his bowler hat just so and his leathers replaced with a spotless tuxedo, the very image of a helpful assistant and bodyguard.

The omnic manning the reception desk straightened to a respectful attention the moment her boots hit the polished marble floor, lowering it’s head just slightly as she approached before it spoke in a warm, cultured voice.

“How may I help you, miss…?”

“Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe,” she supplied with a smile full of false warmth. “I do believe I’m expected.”

“Ah,” the receptionist nodded and bent to the terminal in front of him. “Yes, of course. Just a moment, please.”

A bell rang as she settled into a loose rest, one arm tucked under the other, making it clear she was humoring the staff because she didn’t have anything better to do until a uniformed bellhop - a _human_ one, she noticed - appeared.

“Miss Ashe? If you’d follow me, please.”

B.O.B. moved to follow, but she subtly waved him back. If she needed him, he’d know.

It wasn’t long before she was being shown to one of the resort’s conference rooms, a small screen showing it was currently in use for a private meeting by ‘The Bertolotti Group.’

Ashe snorted quietly as she made her way up to the door. _Who do they think they’re fooling?_

Still, she supposed it was all about appearances here. It always was.

The door swung open smoothly, and what she found was...unexpected.

The big polished table, fancy chairs, and a table with coffee, crystal carafes of water, and decanters for the harder stuff, sure, that was normal enough. So were the suit clad omnic and a thin, short haired man in a suit as white as her hair - she’d never met them personally but she’d heard both were bigwigs in the organization.

No, what she did not expect was the red haired woman who had torn hell through her home sitting there in a razor creased black suit and tie, her long fingers steepled in front of her with a dryly amused smile.

“Our guest of honor has arrived.”

Ashe refused to let the fact that the woman she’d fought with was apparently one of the top of the heap in Talon or that damned smile to phase her. Doing her best to keep her shock and surprise off her face, she walked steadily to the table and pulled herself out a seat.

“How could I turn down such a gracious invitation?” Her lips quirked into a little smirk, matching the woman’s gaze. “Even if I _was_ awfully surprised to receive it.”

“Indeed,” the woman said, her eyes gleaming as she glanced over to the man in the white suit. “Given how obviously foolish it is to operate in territory you control without your... _sanction_ , we felt it would be best to make arrangements properly this time.”

White Suit flushed with clear irritation but kept his mouth shut when the omnic leveled a glare at him.

_Guess I know who organized that convoy._

She crossed her ankles and leaned back in the chair, enjoying the situation after all her concerns about an ambush. “Well that’s right neighborly, darlin’.” Ashe smirked to the woman. “Might be even more if I knew who I was sittin’ down with.”

“Where _are_ our manners,” the woman said with a droll smile, then glanced over to the omnic.

“Maximilien,” he bowed slightly in his seat. “A pleasure to meet someone so accomplished.”

“I’m sure,” Ashe drawled.

“Sanjay Korpal,” the white suited man introduced himself through clenched teeth. “Representing the Vishkar Corporation.”

She just gave him a tight smile, then looked back to her hostess.

“You may call me Moira,” the woman said. “Now - shall we discuss business?”

Ashe nodded, leaning forward with a smile. “I can’t think of anything I’d like better.”

It wasn’t even that much of a much, really. Some kind of operation near Four Corners, digging up Anasazi ruins that had been picked over a thousand times before. It didn’t really even warrant this much of a meeting. Hell, half of what they agreed could have been done over email.

It all had the feeling of show being put on for someone else’s benefit - and she had a feeling that it was supposed to be _hers_.

They finally shook on a deal late in the afternoon, and Ashe wasn’t surprised when Moira approached her afterwards while the other two Talon representatives left for their own devices.

“Would you care to join me for a drink, Miss Ashe?”

She looked into those mismatched eyes and couldn’t help but smile. “I’m startin’ to think that was the whole goal of this little dog and pony show you put on.”

Moira’s chuckle had a low, smoky edge to it that seemed to wrap right around her brain and proceed directly south. “Perhaps it was.”

 _God damn I do not need to get myself into trouble with this woman,_ Ashe thought as she let Moira pour her a glass of whiskey, _but I am sure tempted._

“I was serious about the fact that you impressed me,” Moira said as she examined her own tumbler in the light. “You might say that I’ve always kept an eye out for those with...potential.”

Ashe enjoyed the smoky burn of her drink, finishing a healthy sip before she spoke. “Wouldn’t think all you high an’ mighty Talon types would have much interest in things out my way.”

Moira tilted her head slightly. “Those two men each represent enough power to crush you and Deadlock a hundred times over, yet you walked into the room and took control of them both.” She walked the room, her free hand making little gestures as she spoke. “You refused to be intimidated, even as you walked into a place designed to do just that. Quite impressive - and we both know your more...physical...gifts seem to be rather exceptional as well.”

Her pale skin made it hard for Ashe to hide her blush. “Pretty sweet words considerin’ how we started off.”

Moira gave a short bark of laughter before she shot back the last of her drink. “I hope you will forgive me for being irritable. I’d had a rather trying week.”

“Well, does seem you’ve been tryin’ to make it up to me.”

Moira’s smile was like a razorblade. “One does their best.”

Ashe took care of the rest of her drink, and left the glass on the table. “So, before you put any more butter on my biscuit I have to wonder why you think I’d want in with Talon.”

Moira shook her head as she put her own glass down, the full focus of her attention settling on her like a targeting laser. “Talon is a means to an end for me, Miss Ashe. A useful tool that serves my purposes, but far from my end goal.” Her lips parted just slightly, and the faint freckles on her cheeks became more obvious as they flushed. “No, my interest in you is far more personal.”

“In that case,” she said as she walked up to Moira, running her fingers along the other woman’s tie. “I think that you can just call me Ashe.”

They’d barely left the conference room before she’d sent B.O.B. on back to the boys, making it clear she wouldn’t be needing him the rest of the night.

She seemed to recall they’d eaten something for dinner from the resort’s restaurant, but Ashe had much better memories of dessert.

For the second time in two months Moira had her panting on her back, but the circumstances were _much_ nicer this time around.

There was a lot to be said for a woman who knew what she was doing, and knew exactly what she wanted, and when they finally ended up in a slick, sweaty tangle with the sheets wrapped around them, Ashe gave a soft, satisfied little laugh into Moira’s lean, firm chest.

“Now _that_ is what I call a successful negotiation.”

“Mmm. Quite so.” Moira’s kiss brushed the top of her forehead, another pleasant little shudder running down her spine. “Would that all my deals ended so well.”

“Better than most of the times my parents dumped me here, that’s for sure.”

Moira hummed softly, fingers tracing circles into her shoulder. “Families are often difficult things.”

Ashe yawned, feeling warm and satisfied, a lazy warmth spreading through her with each touch of Moira’s fingertips. She felt _so_ sleepy, and it put a bit of a haze into her mind. “I _made_ my family. B.O.B., the boys, the gang. Jesse…”She gave a sad little sigh. “He didn’t even look back.”

“Those kind of betrayals are the most painful,” Moira agreed in a low murmur. “But it is a shame about your parents. My Father never seemed to appreciate me either.”

She wasn’t quite sure how they’d gotten onto this track, but it seemed the most natural thing to talk about now. “They bought everything else. Suppose they figured they’d buy my love too.”

“Pedestrian,” Moira sighed. “A pity, truly.” Her fingers lingered at the nape of her neck, and Ashe gave a soft little moan. “You’re worth so much more than money.”

“Starting to feel like this is another pitch,” Ashe mumbled.

“You truly do have a great deal of potential.” Something in Moira’s voice made Ashe push herself up on her elbows to look at the other woman’s face, and her eyes seemed to burn, somehow. Like the embers of a fire being stoked up behind them, so bright she’d swear that they’d begun to cast a faint light of their own in the dimly lit bedroom. “What if I could help you reach it?”

In hindsight, she probably should have thought a bit more about it before saying yes.

* * *

“Gonna be gone a while,” she told the gang a few weeks later. “Family business.” She looked over at B.O.B., waited for him to blink twice, then turned and pointed to the Triplets. “Zeke’s in charge ‘til I get back - and if I have to come back and settle things because someone decided not to do like I said, I will _not_ be a happy woman. Ya’ll get me?”

She waited for the grumbles to die down, then nodded before she kicked down and fired up her bike. “Good. Keep things warm for me, boys. I’ll be back soon.”

B.O.B. came with her, of course. He always did. Watching her back just like always, her first and oldest friend.

Ashe took a hand off the throttle and found herself dashing a few tears from her eyes before she focused back on keeping her bike on the road.

She didn’t quite know where the hell that came from. Maybe that same feeling of longing she’d felt after she’d woken up after her last day in the resort, the empty space on the bed beside her still warm, and a handwritten note on the desk.

 _Settle your affairs,_ it had read in a flowing, elegant script, _and then you will know what to do next._

The ride from the hideout back up to Westlake took a few days, but it wasn’t long before Ashe found herself pulling up to the old wrought iron gates she’d sworn that she’d never come back to again.

On the other hand, twenty years was a long, long time.

She’d stopped at some shops in Fort Worth, changing out of her usual Deadlock duds to something more sober and sedate. Black jeans, a white blouse, a pale blue sweater over it. Her hat stowed in a saddlebag and most of her hair up in a bun.

She waited for B.O.B. to stow her bike away, then took a deep breath and tapped in the passcode on the keypad.

The gate hummed for a moment, almost as if it was just as surprised to see her there, then the motors swung into action to open up for her once again.

_Welcome home._

She walked up the driveway, B.O.B. a few steps behind, and by the time she’d reached the broad steps that lead to the front door of the Ashe family manor, her parents were standing on the steps waiting for her.

Her father’s hair had become almost entirely grey, with white peeking in at the roots, while her mother’s white-blonde hair was still as fair as she remembered.

They both showed obvious signs of age, from carefully concealed wrinkles to the faint hints of crow’s feet, but in others it hardly seemed as if they’d changed at all. Their expressions of surprise and concern all so familiar, yet...she’d never appreciated how much love was in their eyes, had she?

No. Not until today.

“Elizabeth,” her father said as he took a half step forward. “It’s...been quite some time.”

“I know, Daddy.” The words were like dynamite busting a damn inside of her, and tears suddenly welled up in her eyes as the realization of just how much she’d missed out on hit her. “I’m _sorry_ ,” she gasped as she ran to him, wrapping him in a hug, the hot tears tracking down her face as she shook in his arms. “I’m so, so sorry!”

He’d stiffened from shock and surprise when she’d embraced him, but within moments he was holding her tighter, one firm hand gently rubbing her back, while she felt her mother’s slender arms wrap around them both as best she could. “Oh, baby. Oh, my little girl…”

“I love you, Daddy. I love you, Momma.”

Her mother’s kiss on her forehead felt like the greatest score Ashe had ever landed. “We love you too, sweetie. We’ve missed you so much.”

“That’s...I woke up...and I knew that was all I’d ever really wanted.”

Daddy’s fingers slid through her hair, more than a few tears in his own eyes now. “Then that’s what you’ll get, Lizzie. We are gonna tell you we love you every single day from now on.”

Deep down inside, a little piece of her shivered with satisfaction as they led her back inside.

It was going _perfectly_.

The next few days were a whirlwind of being ‘reintroduced’ to her old life, to picking back up the trappings of privilege and reacquainting herself with the wealth and taste she’d left behind.

To her surprise, Ashe found herself thinking of herself as ‘Elizabeth’ more often - sometimes even ‘Lizzie.’ Ashe was still who she _was_ , of course. It was her family, just as much as Deadlock. She’d just never quite realized she could have a piece of both, rather than one or the other.

And through it all, her parents were...wonderful. More involved with her life than they’d ever been, really. Breakfast with Daddy before he went off to work. Lunch with Momma, sometimes shopping. Dinner and coffee, occasionally shared with other families around the area or going to meet a few of Daddy’s business partners.

She wasn’t hiding who she’d become, exactly, but she was mostly wearing long sleeves and dresses to conceal her tattoos, only switching to more casual clothes for working out or occasional night time excursions to raid the fridge.

B.O.B. reported twice that she’d walked through the manor to the trophy room where she’d returned the Viper to its rightful place, but she didn’t remember it. Maybe she’d been sleepwalking. Did people still do that?

It was only when she’d been home for almost a month that she finally understood what she had to do.

Her riding clothes were in her closet now. She dressed without even really thinking about it, as if her hands had a life of their own.

When she stepped outside of her room, B.O.B. was there, blinking curiously at her.

“Bring the bikes around to the front but don’t start them up, and don’t come back to look for me - I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

B.O.B. tilted his head, shutters blinking again.

“Don’t you worry,” Ashe assured him tenderly, reaching up to stroke the sculpted metal of his cheek. “I’ll be fine - but I have to do this myself.”

The Viper seemed warm in her hands as she took it back down and loaded the magazine with the cartridges she’d hidden in her belt, as if it was as eager for this as she was.

The thought made her smile just a little wider as she tucked the stock under her arm, and quietly made her way back up to where her parents slept.

Daddy had silky looking pajamas from some designer or another on, and Momma’s beautiful white nightdress made her look like an angel. All she was missing was a pair of wings.

_Ya’ll are so lovely. So beautiful. I love you both so much, and I am so happy you finally loved me back._

_It really was all I ever wanted. Thank you._

It look some careful aim to make sure she’d take both of them with one shot, but they’d been so deep in sleep that they hadn’t even moved when Ashe had flicked the safety off.

A perfect shot that went through Momma’s heart, then up through Daddy’s ribcage and out the back of his chest with a hole the size of a dinner plate before the bullet buried itself into the wall.

She didn’t even think their eyes opened. How about that?

There was a part of her that wanted to cover the house in gasoline and light a match, but Ashe held herself back. Fun as it might have been, it wasn’t what she was supposed to do next.

Ashe made the Viper safe again, then kissed her parents on the forehead one last time before she locked their door.

B.O.B. was waiting outside, and they had a long way to go.

* * *

“So,” Moira asked as they sat in her office in Oasis. “How do you feel, Ashe?”

She had to think about that for a little bit. “I don’t rightly know. Wonderful, some ways. Terrible, others.” She looked back over to where B.O.B. was standing at the corner of the room and shook her head. “And that plane ride from DFW to Baghdad wasn’t much fun at all, was it B.O.B.?”

B.O.B.’s shoulders rose and fell slightly as he blinked again.

“Easy for you to say,” Ashe snorted. “You just plugged in and recharged. Some of us can’t sleep on a plane.”

Moira chuckled as she leaned back in her chair. “How unfortunate for you. But I’m afraid the private flight was necessary to avoid...unwanted entanglements.”

“That’s fair,” Ashe agreed, then looked down at herself again. “Still... it’s as if I finally have everything I want, but...it’s _empty_ , somehow. Like I’m missin’ something I never knew I lost.”

Moira’s eyes seemed to glow again as she reached out to take her hand, brushing a kiss over her knuckles. “Don’t worry. You’re nearly there.”

There was a whirlwind of exams, blood draws, a transfusion, and more paperwork than Ashe could believe as they worked on what Moira had called ‘the final steps’, but it wasn’t all bad. Certainly her ‘doctor’ had a hell of a bedside manner when she wasn’t taking charge of having her worked up and over.

“You’re a trained fighter - no need to retread that ground,” Moira observed as she hung a transfusion bag one afternoon. “So much simpler. I almost wish I’d met you before.”

Her head felt oddly heavy as Moira spoke, almost as if it was too much for her neck to keep upright. “Before…?”

“No one you need to concern yourself with,” Moira smiled as she started the drip, the blood running down the IV and into her vein with a curiously warm feeling. “An earlier iteration, who proved the process was viable, but required much more...development.”

Ashe felt a shiver run down to her feet as Moira kissed her forehead, her voice low. “You will be even greater, I assure you, and far less work to prepare. It’s quite exciting, honestly.”

The warmth spreading through her body was dragging her down quickly, her vision graying at the edges as she tried to fight sleep for just a little longer. “Well, that’s nice. So we’ll be ready soon?”

“Oh yes,” Moira assured her with a gentle hand on her forehead. “Quite soon, indeed.”

The next time she had a clear memory of things, it was Moira giving B.O.B. instructions, while she lay in a hospital bed.

“Her vitals will fluctuate drastically during the final steps of the procedure. I assure you, she will stabilize, but you must not interfere.”

B.O.B. tilted his head skeptically before looking back to her, clearly waiting for her to say no.

“It’ll be alright, B.O.B.. Don’t you worry.” She smiled to Moira, who gave her a look of undisguised approval. “Wait outside. I’ll be just fine. Better than, right?”

“Of course.”

B.O.B. blinked at her, turning his head back and forth between them, then finally nodded and took two slow steps back away from the bed.

“Ya’ll mind if he just waits here?”

Moira gestured to the extra wide seat that had been placed in the back of her room. “He’s quite welcome to stay, and you may retrieve him once we’re finished.”

“I feel as good as you say after this is all said and done,” Ashe said with a grin, “I may just pick him up and carry him out myself.”

“That might be quite entertaining,” Moira agreed. “But for now, there is work to be done.” She walked the length of the bed, reaching out with purple tinged fingers to gently smooth her hair. “Are you ready?”

A little bit of cockiness filled her, despite the competing aches of hunger and thirst she felt. “I was _born_ ready.”

“Yes,” Moira mused softly as she signaled for orderlies to take the bed to the operating theater. “Perhaps you were.”

* * *

In her experience, operating rooms were clean, brightly lit, stainless steel and white tile sort of places.

As Ashe walked in, naked as a jaybird, she couldn’t see a damn thing.

Moira must have been able to see the expression on her face, her amused voice seeming to come from everywhere in the shadows.

“I suppose it does seem a bit melodramatic, but I assure you this all part of the process.”

“If you say so…” She walked into the open circle of light, but there was no operating table there, nowhere to lay or sit. Just patterns drawn onto the floor, candles, and…oh.

The Viper seemed to almost be hanging in midair, the rifle’s freshly oiled stock gleaming, the brass fittings polished to perfection.

She hadn’t even seen where it had come from. She’d turned it over to Moira back when she’d first arrived in the desert, but she could tell by the weight and feel it was still loaded.

“What am I gonna do with this?”

Moira emerged from the shadows, her skin gleaming in the firelight even as her robes seemed to be swallowed up by the darkness.

“When the time comes, you will know.”

Ashe really hadn’t thought she would, especially once Moira began to sing in a voice like she’d never heard before, but as it all went on she realized she did know. She knew _exactly_ what to do, just like before.

Reversing the rifle and aiming at her own chest wasn’t quite simple, but as she got the barrel comfortably nestled just above her heart everything seemed to click into place.

The Viper’s report seemed impossibly loud and incredibly far away at the same time, the gunshot blending perfectly into the song just as it was meant to.

Warmth seemed to be burning through her where the bullet had entered her body, but instead of leeching away her strength, it felt as if it was increasing it. A feeling of relaxation washed over her, and as she gave into it the Viper fell from her slack fingers and clattered down to the ground.

When Ashe looked to where the rifle had fallen, she was suddenly captivated by her own body.

Where the entrance wound had been was now filled with something that looked almost like liquid gold, yet it seemed to glow with it’s own warmth and light.

It reminded her of videos she’d seen as a kid of volcanoes exploding, of the magma welling up beneath the earth. Pooling in the wound, slowly flowing through the cracks and breaks in flesh to fill them, but instead of pouring down her chest like blood should have, it seemed to seal up the damage and flow _inward_ , instead, and as it did she could see the color slowly draining from her skin, as if it had become glazed and fired clay, the faint golden lines just visible beneath as the molten warmth spread.

Her nipples darkened, almost as if she was becoming monochrome, and when she held up a hand she could see her fingernails doing the same, almost like chips of polished obsidian.

Her chest heaved as she took a deep breath and then blew it out as the sensation of changing began to fade, yet that warmth remained, underlain with a sudden and almost overwhelming hunger. Craving for something she’d never had before, yet needed so badly.

The room was perfectly clear now, her eyes able to make out every detail, ever color as if it was daylight.

Moira’s eyes were gleaming with delight and excitement, but she didn’t break the circle yet. “How beautiful you are. And a much more thorough transformation - it seems I underestimated the value of a fully willing participant.”

“I appreciate the compliments,” Ashe purred as she approached, but found herself unable to cross the circle’s boundary, as if it was a solid wall of glass. “Mind lettin’ me out so I can show you how grateful I am?”

“Soon enough,” Moira said coolly. “You see...there is one other difference between you and my earlier subject.” She slowly paced around the circle, and Ashe found herself turning to watch her, unable to break away. “ _She_ was to belong to Talon. You, my beautiful one...you belong to _me_.”

That made something run through Ashe - an urge to rear up and fight back, countered by an equally strong pull to drop to her knees. “My business has always been _my_ business.”

Moira chuckled. “I’ve no intention to interfere with your little gang - I suspect you’ll find them a useful source for….any number of things.” She drew closer, and now her hand slipped through the circle like a knife through water. “No. This is...rather more important than any of those concerns.”

Ashe felt Moira’s hand gently wrap around the base of her skull, and suddenly that urge to sink to her knees was overwhelming, bringing her to the floor in an instant.

 _ <<I claim you, Ashe.>> _ A song so sweet and dark that it seemed to steal the air from the room, like blackstrap molasses turned to sound. _ <<As I have created you, I bind you now, and with your Name I claim you for my service.>> _

There was an odd itching feeling in her arm, and when she looked down a neatly raised scar now ran just above her wrist - like the arms of a double helix twisted together, or the strands of barbed wire.

With it all, she felt...content. Happy. As if the missing pieces had finally been fit into place.

 _ <<Oh,>> _ she breathed, not quite realizing she was speaking and singing in the same tongue. << _I **am** yours.>> _

“Quite,” Moira purred with satisfaction as she stepped back. “Now stand, and you may leave the circle.”

She did as she was told, and the barrier seemed to part like a curtain, the power in the room slowly returning to normal as the more arcane energies ebbed away.

Ashe realized with a start that she could _feel_ that. Feel the people moving through the building, feel Moira beside her, blazing like the sun, and suddenly her hunger was overwhelming, the sheer _need_ folding her up like a chair.

“I...I need...what…did you...what am I…?”

Moira turned back and seemed to mutter something beneath her breath. “Ah, of course. I should have realized.”

Hands on her shoulders pushed her back and up, warmth seeming to leech into her from them as if she was drawing Moira’s body heat into herself, and then their lips met in a kiss that was oddly passionless, compared to some of their others, yet _satisfied_ her in a way nothing had ever done before.

As Moira held her, Ashe could feel something between them, a sparking, tingling sensation like static electricity, and when the kiss broke she realized the hunger was sated as if she’d just eaten a nice quick snack.

“Better?”

“ _Shit_ , yes.”

Moira nodded. “I shall need to teach you a few things - and provide you with some alternative sustenance before you go - but that should be sufficient enough for now.”

The door opened, and Moira gestured her through with a sweeping bow.

“Welcome to the War.”

* * *

It wasn’t so different, really. Business was still business, and when she got back to the gang she quickly sorted out anyone who hadn’t been behaving themselves.

Making sure she was wearing gloves before she touched anyone (except when she _didn’t_ ), giving B.O.B. some private explanations and a few new parameters. She shot straighter, hit harder, moved faster now at forty than she ever had at twenty, and so long as she didn’t let her appearance slip to anyone, nobody had any idea she was a much different Ashe than the one who had left.

Deadlock still did their own thing, and went their own ways. But now and then she felt the brand on her wrist ache, or get an email with some instructions on a ‘private job.’

Most were pretty simple, now, and the benefits…

Ashe smiled as she thought of the last meeting with her Mistress, and how Moira had shown her ‘appreciation’.  

Yes, the benefits were _quite_ worth the trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW art to go with this story courtesy of Sarah: https://darksideone.tumblr.com/post/185549949235/a-gift-for-a-friend-3c

**Author's Note:**

> We also have some lovely art to go with this story, courtesy of Sarah: https://darksideone.tumblr.com/post/185549949235/a-gift-for-a-friend-3c


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